CAREER: Genetic Dissection of The Signaling Pathway of A Family of Cell Wall-Associated Protein Receptor Kinases

这个CAREER发展项目的总体科学目标是从遗传学上剖析植物拟南芥中细胞壁相关蛋白激酶（WAKs）家族的信号通路。 细胞外壁在植物的发育和生存中起着至关重要的作用。 尽管它的重要性，但是，它不是很好地理解如何与细胞内室的壁相互作用。 初步研究已经确定了一个五个WAK家族。 所有成员都有一个与细胞壁紧密连接的胞外结构域，一个单一的跨膜结构域和一个胞质丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶。 WAK是植物正常发育所必需的，并在病原体反应过程中发挥重要作用。 最近的结果表明，转基因抑制WAKs导致细胞伸长的抑制、发育的完全停滞和细胞死亡。 在这些研究中，基因外抑制筛选将用于鉴定和表征WAKs介导的信号通路中的组分。 具体的科学目标是（1）创建一个可诱导的转基因品系，用于抑制基因筛选，（2）鉴定和表征基因外抑制基因突变体，（3）分析抑制基因和特定WAK之间的相互作用。 该项目的总体教育目标是将这项研究与教育学生植物分子遗传学的教学计划相结合。 这一目标的一部分将是促进科学发现的本科生和研究生在旧金山弗朗西斯科州立大学的兴奋，并为他们提供工具，追求科学事业的成功。 具体的教育目标是：（1）将现代分子遗传技术纳入植物生理学实验课程;（2）开发植物分子生物学新课程;（3）招收和指导少数民族学生学习植物分子生物学和遗传学。 最后一个目标将包括参与针对少数群体的机构和社区外联方案，并指导从事独立研究的少数群体学生。这些目标得到了生物系教师和大学行政部门的坚定支持。 两人都坚信，积极的研究项目为学生提供了获得科学运作方式的第一手经验的机会，并为他们提供了在传统课堂环境中无法获得的技能。 此外，该大学致力于教育不同种族的湾区人口。

The overall scientific objective of this CAREER development project is to dissect genetically the signaling pathway of a family of cell wall-associated protein kinases (WAKs) in the plant, Arabidopsis. The extracellular cell wall serves a vital role in plant development and survival. Despite its importance, however, it is not well understood how the wall interacts with the intracellular compartment. Preliminary studies have identified a family of five WAKs. All members have an extracellular domain tightly linked to the cell wall, a single transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase. WAKs are required for normal plant development and play an important role during pathogen responses. More recent results have shown that transgenic suppression of WAKs results in the inhibition of cell elongation, a complete arrest in development, and cell death. In these studies extragenic suppressor screening will be used to identify and characterize components in the signaling pathway mediated by WAKs. The specific scientific aims are (1) to create an inducible transgenic line that will be used for suppressor screening, (2) to identify and characterize extragenic suppressor mutants, and (3) to analyze the interactions between suppressors and specific WAKs. The overall educational goal for this project is to integrate this research with a teaching program that will educate students in plant molecular genetics. Part of this goal will be to foster the excitement of scientific discovery in undergraduate and graduate students at San Francisco State University, and to provide them with tools to pursue a successful career in science. Specific educational aims are (1) to incorporate modern molecular genetic techniques into a plant physiology laboratory course, (2) to develop a new course in plant molecular biology, (3) to recruit and mentor minority students in the fields of plant molecular biology and genetics. This last aim will include participation in institutional and community outreach programs for minorities, and the mentoring of minority students undertaking independent research. These objectives are firmly supported by both the faculty in the department of biology and the university administration. Both believe strongly that an active research program provides students with opportunities to gain first hand experience in how science operates and gives them skills not attainable in a traditional classroom setting. In addition, the university at large is committed to the education of the ethnically diverse Bay Area population.